Volcano Watch: Kilauea activity update for March 30, 2017

The episode 61g flow continues to enter the ocean at the Kamokuna ocean entry (center), and was producing a robust plume. The western Kamokuna delta, which was abandoned in late September 2016, is visible to the left of the entry. A few weak surface breakouts were still active on the coastal plain, but most surface activity is within approximately 3.5 km (2.2 miles) of the vent. The episode 61g tube is marked by fume traces that can be seen along the flow field, and Puʻu ʻŌʻō is visible in the center of the skyline. Photo taken Thursday, March 30, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO

A close-up view of the Kamokuna ocean entry. A tiny delta has been building, but is not clearly visible through the thick plume. One spot of incandescence can be seen through a break in the plume (center) just above sea level. Floating, steaming blocks were also seen in the water just off the ocean entry (lower middle-right). Photo taken Thursday, March 30, 2017 courtesy of USGS/HVO

Kīlauea continues to erupt at its summit and East Rift Zone. This past week, the summit lava lake level varied between about 14 and 34 m (46-112 ft) below the vent rim. The 61g flow was still active, with lava entering the ocean near Kamokuna and small surface breakouts downslope of Puʻu ʻŌʻō on the pali and the coastal plain. The 61g flows do not pose an immediate threat to nearby communities.

Mauna Loa is not erupting. During the past week, small-magnitude earthquakes continued to occur beneath the volcano. GPS measurements continue to show deformation related to inflation of a magma reservoir beneath the summit and upper Southwest Rift Zone. No significant change in the summit fumarole temperature or gas output was noted this past week.

No earthquakes were reported felt on the Island of Hawai’i during the past week.

Time-lapse image movie from a research camera positioned on Holei Pali, looking east towards Lava Flow 61G and Kalapana. March 23-30, 2017. Images courtesy of USGS/HVO

This map shows recent changes to Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone lava flow field. The area of the active flow field as of March 16 is shown in pink, while widening and advancement of the active flow as of March 30 is shown in red. Older Puʻu ʻŌʻō lava flows (1983–2016) are shown in gray. The yellow line is the trace of the active lava tube (dashed where uncertain).The blue lines over the Puʻu ʻŌʻō flow field are steepest-descent paths calculated from a 2013 digital elevation model (DEM), while the blue lines on the rest of the map are steepest-descent paths calculated from a 1983 DEM (for calculation details, see pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1264/). Steepest-descent path analysis is based on the assumption that the DEM perfectly represents the earth’s surface. DEMs, however, are not perfect, so the blue lines on this map can be used to infer only approximate flow paths. The base map is a partly transparent 1:24,000-scale USGS digital topographic map draped over the 1983 10-m digital elevation model (DEM).